Showing results by narrator "Khristine Hvam" in All Categories

The witches and vampires of Bayou, Oiseau, are at war over a magical talisman - and Jane must figure out how to keep the mysterious artifact out of the covetous hands of the Master of New Orleans. From the Big Easy to the bad bayou, from the open road to a vampire's lair - with Jane Yellowrock, it's always a given: have stakes, will travel.

With the famous rhubarb festival right around the corner, small-town tensions, tempers, and godly tantrums are at an all-time high. The last thing Delaney needs is her ex-boyfriend reappearing just when she's finally caught the attention of Ryder Bailey, the one man she should never love. No, scratch that. The actual last thing she needs is a dead body washing ashore, especially since the dead body is a god.

When a star dies, a new one must be born. The Sun God chooses the village of Endwever to provide a mortal womb. The birthing of a star is always fatal for the mother, and Ceris Wenden, who considers herself an outsider, sacrifices herself to secure her family’s honor and take control of her legacy. But after her star child is born, Ceris does what no other star mother has: she survives. When Ceris returns to Endwever, however, it’s not nine months later—it’s seven hundred years later.

Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker...and the woman rogue vampires fear most. Jane walks softly and carries a big stake to keep the peace in New Orleans, all part of her job as official Enforcer to Leo Pellissier, Master of the City. But Leo's reign is being threatened by a visit from a delegation of ancient European vampires seeking to expand their dominions. And there's another danger to the city.

A year has passed since the Celestial war ended and humanity has begun to rebuild. The Sarkonian Empire, the Union, and Earth have struck a delicate peace as a unified Alliance. Even for rebellion Captain Alyss Cortez and her crew, life on Neblinar no longer means danger in every shadow. Senator Kaska has given up his pursuit. Ordered by the Initiative leader, all Cortez has to do is keep her head down, and she begins to question if it’s time to move on.

In Rip-Off!, 13 of today’s best and most honored writers of speculative fiction face a challenge even they would be hard-pressed to conceive: Pick your favorite opening line from a classic piece of fiction (or even non-fiction) - then use it as the first sentence of an entirely original short story.

To boost waning interest in interstellar travel, a mission is sent into deep space to learn the truth about "moonriders," the strange lights supposedly being seen in nearby systems. But Academy pilot Valentina Kouros and the team of the starship Salvator will soon discover that their odyssey is no mere public-relations ploy, for the moonriders are not a harmless phenomenon. They are very, very dangerous-in a way that no one could possibly have imagined.

When police officer Rick LaFLeur is infected with the taint of black were-leopard, he goes to Jane Yellowrock for help. But her idea of "help" is not quite what he was expecting: she knocks him out and he wakes up in a cage.

When Molly Everhart Trueblood doesn’t show up for her shift at Seven Sassy Sisters Herb Shop and Café, Jane Yellowrock goes to the house to check on her. There Jane discovers a black cloud of wild, out of control magic attacking the small home. How can Jane save the small family?

The Master of Natchez, Mississippi has a nasty problem on his hands. Rogue vampires - those who follow the Naturaleza and believe that humans should be nothing more than prey to be hunted - are terrorizing his city. Luckily, he knows the perfect skinwalker to call in to take back the streets. But what he doesn’t tell Jane is that there’s something different about these vamps. Something that makes them harder to kill - even for a pro like Jane.

Jane Yellowrock and the Younger brothers, partners in Yellowrock Securities, are hired by the state of Louisiana to track, hunt, and dispatch a small pack of marauding werewolves. They may be part of the larger pack that Jane destroyed in the novel Mercy Blade. The job sounds easy on the surface, but is anything ever easy for Jane or her Beast?

In Elantra, a job well done is rewarded with a more dangerous task. So after defeating a dark evil, Kaylin Neya goes before the Barrani High Court, where a misspoken word brings sure death. Kaylin's never been known for her grace or manners, but the High Lord's heir is suspiciously ill, and Kaylin's healing magic is the only shot at saving him - if she can dodge the traps laid for her.

Private Kaylin Neya thought her home couldn't possibly get more crowded. But when one of her housemates, Annarion, decides to undertake the Barrani Test of Name, his friends refuse to let him face his task alone - and Kaylin's sentient home, Helen, is the only structure capable of shielding the rest of Elantra from the magnitude of their power. Annarion and Mandoran almost caused the destruction of the High Halls once already. Add nine of their closest friends, and the danger is astronomically higher.

My magic can kill. Now, it might be the reason I die. For years, I thought I was Raven Cursed - only to discover I’m something much worse. But nothing about my life is as shocking as what I discover about Mephisto, the mysterious and alluring client who’s always had a special interest in me. Now I know why. My curse and Mephisto’s secrets have to take a back seat when the most powerful vampire in the city hires me for a job. It seems simple enough: Negotiate the acquisition of a weapon that can kill his kind faster than a stake to the heart.

With the Ham brothers trying to get their revenge on Charlie, she’s not about to sit back and let them ruin her life. But while she’s trying to stop them, there are other problems on the island. A woman Dot knows has been killed, and she wants justice. Obviously, Charlie is on the case. But will the crew be able to keep Rosie and Dot’s true skills secret from those close to them? And how is Jake going to handle both his recovery from his gunshot wound, and help bring the Seattle gang to justice?

For most of my life, all I wanted was magic. Now I have it. Powerful magic. And I can say with certainty, the cost for it was way too high. My life is in shambles. The most powerful vampire in the city wants me to help sire a family as repayment for a debt. I’m at war with elves. The local werewolves’ leader won’t stop being a certifiable Alpha-hole. And Mephisto has been banished from my world. I thought things couldn’t get worse.

The vampires of Asheville, North Carolina, want to establish their own clan, but since they owe loyalty to the Master Vampire of New Orleans, they must work out the terms with him. To come up with an equitable solution, he sends an envoy with the best bodyguard blood money can buy: skinwalker Jane Yellowrock. But when a group of local campers are attacked by something fanged, Jane goes from escort to investigator. Is it a rogue-vampire, shapechanger, or witch? Or something else magical?

When a god wants you dead, it’s safe to assume life can’t get any worse. Wrong. I’m enemy number-one to a powerful fae and I’ve ticked off the Master of the vampires one too many times. Life - or rather, death - is coming at me fast. I definitely didn’t expect a demon placing a bounty on me to be added to the what-the-hell-else-could-go-wrong Bingo card. Adding to my problems, the two men in my life are pushing me to make a choice that could not only cost me a friendship, but a valued ally.

More than a year has passed since The Event, and the survivors who returned home are trying to stitch their lives back together. They think they are safe. But that is a lie. The Darkness has followed them, and this time It's amassing an army of allies. While key officials at Black Island fight to keep the secret, the survivors' lives converge again. Confused by terrifying visions and unpredictable rampages, they seek help wherever they can find it.

For the first time since their defection, Captain Alyss Cortez and her misfit crew of rebels are no longer looking over their shoulders. Instead, she’s scented the blood of her enemy on cosmic winds and will stop at nothing to bring Adrian Kaska down for good. There’s just one little problem: Nothing is ever easy. Kaska has gathered an army of followers loyal to his cause. If they aren’t stopped the impending war might well bring humanity to the brink of destruction from the inside out. To win, hard choices must be made.